Last night I was sitting around a backyard fire roasting marshmallows with some friends and their kids. They were kicking off their summer vacation by throwing all their homework from the past year into the flames. This is what I asked an 11-year-old, and the conversation that followed.
ME: "Hey! I heard you gave a speech at your school. What did you say? Something inspirational?"
BOY: "Yeah."
BOY'S FRIEND: "I thought you were going to talk about different stuff."
BOY: "Like what?"
BOY'S FRIEND: "I don't know, like video games."
BOY: "It was a fifth grade graduation ceremony. Why the heck would I talk about video games?"
BOY'S FRIEND: (thoughtful for a second) "I guess maybe that would be a way not to graduate."